Judge Neil Gorsuch: What's His Net Worth?

It's pretty, pretty sizable -- although it falls far short of Judge Merrick Garland's.

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, addressing the Federalist Society.

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch — but you can call him Benjamin.

President Donald Trump is famous — or infamous, depending on your point of view — for filling his administration with millionaires and even billionaires. So it should probably come as no surprise that his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorusch of the Tenth Circuit, is no slouch when it comes to finances.

Judge Gorsuch’s financial disclosures were flagged for me in a recent episode of First Mondays, the excellent SCOTUS podcast hosted by Dan Epps and Ian Samuel (which you should check out if you haven’t already). They mentioned Judge Gorsuch’s robust balance sheet just in passing, but it prompted me to do some additional digging. Here’s a report from Open Secrets about Judge Gorsuch’s most recent filing, dated August 11, 2016 (for calendar year 2015):

[L]ike Scalia, only more so, Gorsuch is quite wealthy. According to his 2015 financial disclosure statement — the most recent available — Gorsuch had an estimated net worth of somewhere between $3.2 million and $7.3 million, not counting a few things like the Denver-area home he occupies. (Judges and others — like members of Congress — who file financial disclosure forms aren’t required to include “any mortgage, equity loan, or line of credit secured by a personal residence, vehicle, boat, or motor home.” And those can be quite some valuable assets to leave out.)

A Justice Gorsuch would fit right in at One First Street, where almost all the justices are millionaires. Based on their 2015 financial disclosures, as analyzed by the Center for Public Integrity, the eight sitting justices have minimum net worths ranging from $555,011 (Justice Clarence Thomas) to $6,145,051 (Justice Stephen G. Breyer). Recall that these are minimum estimates and that they don’t include personal residences — so even the three justices with sub-seven-figure minimum net worths could be millionaires if their home equity was considered. (The two other justices who might not be millionaires are Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, with a minimum net worth of $580,004, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, with a minimum net worth of $995,009.)

Taking his low-end net worth of $3.2 million, Neil Gorsuch would be the fourth-richest justice if confirmed, behind Justice Breyer ($6.1 million), Chief Justice John Roberts ($4.2 million), and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ($4.2 million). Looking at high-end estimates, a Justice Gorsuch would also probably be in the top half or third of the Court, but not the wealthiest. That honor likely belongs to Justice Breyer, who could be worth as much as $16 million.

What are the components of Judge Gorsuch’s fortune? Ownership of individual stocks by judges can create ethical problems, as noted by Fix the Court, which pushes for greater transparency and accountability at SCOTUS. So Fix the Court will be pleased to see that Judge Gorsuch does not own any individual stocks directly. Instead, his investments consist primarily of a nice, diversified mix of stock funds, bond funds, municipal bonds, CDs, and money-market accounts.

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(Judge Gorsuch’s quirkiest asset: “Walden Group LLC (mountain property).” I wonder if that’s where the judge, an avid fisherman and (black-diamond) skier, stays when he goes fly-fishing or hits the slopes.)

Per Open Secrets, these investments generated somewhere between $140,000 and $390,000 in passive income for Judge Gorsuch. That’s a handsome supplement to his current annual salary as a Tenth Circuit judge of $217,600 (which would go up to $251,800 if he becomes an associate justice).

How did Judge Gorsuch amass such wealth? Before his days of earning a modest judicial salary — modest at least by legal-elite standards (it’s a great income for the average American) — he practiced profitably in the private sector, at the litigation powerhouse of Kellogg Huber (which now seems to refer to itself as “Kellogg Huber Hansen,” as you can see in their warm testimonial for Judge Gorsuch; alas, Messrs. Todd, Evans, and Figel don’t make the short-form cut). As noted by the Denver Post:

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch gave up a $1 million a year paycheck when he left his private law practice a decade ago for less financially rewarding work as a government lawyer and then a judge.

But he managed to do quite nicely for his first four years on the federal bench even so, earning $3.28 million in deferred payments through 2009. That was on top of the judge’s annual salary, around $200,000 at the time.

The payments resulted from an agreement Gorsuch signed when he joined the Bush administration in 2005.

He worked on several potentially lucrative cases that had yet to produce big paydays for the firm. When they did, Gorsuch collected his share according to what he told senators in 2006 were “predetermined rules.”

It’s not uncommon for law firm partners to receive such payments from their former firms after joining government. For example, the fabulously wealthy Mary Jo White got additional dollars from Debevoise after she became SEC chair.

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In light of his impeccable credentials, long and distinguished record of public service, and excellent judicial temperament, what’s the main objection to Judge Gorsuch from liberals? If they’re honest, they’ll say, “That he’s not Merrick Garland.”

And that is absolutely true — at least when it comes to personal finances. Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit has professional credentials and a judicial track record that are as good as, or arguably better than, those of Judge Gorsuch. But when it comes to who’s richer, the evidence is clear and convincing: Judge Garland.

The bottom of Judge Garland’s net-worth range, clocking in at $7.6 million, is higher than the $7.3 million top of Judge Gorsuch’s. As for the top of Judge Garland’s range, he could be worth as much as $25 million (and remember that these disclosures don’t include the value of personal residences, which are probably in the seven figures for both jurists).

Chief Judge Garland didn’t take the bench to make big bucks, and he would surely trade many of his millions to become Associate Justice Garland if given the choice. But still, there’s no denying that an eight-figure net worth is a nice consolation prize. If he’s shedding tears over his dashed SCOTUS hopes, he can wipe them up with hundred-dollar bills.

(Flip to the next page to read or download Judge Gorsuch’s complete financial disclosure.)

UPDATE (2/18/2017, 1:27 p.m.): How did Judge Garland acquire his fortune? Yes, he was a partner at Arnold & Porter for a few years, but my guess is it’s family money — mainly from his wife’s side. He’s been married for almost 30 years to Lynn Rosenman, whose father was a Cravath partner and whose grandfather founded Rosenman & Colin (now Katten Muchin Rosenman).

Good Behaviour #2: “Disheartening and Demoralizing” [First Mondays]
Gorsuch is respected jurist — and another multimillionaire [Open Secrets]

Earlier: Liberals And Gays For Gorsuch? (Or, The Virtues Of Non-Ideological Clerk Hiring)
Is Judge Neil Gorsuch The Supreme Court Nominee?
The SCOTUS Financial Disclosure Forms They Really Hope You Don’t Read
Just How Rich Is Mary Jo White, Debevoise Partner and Likely Future SEC Chair?


DBL square headshotDavid Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.